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Tomas O Fiaich (1923 - 1990): Cardinal

Tomas O Fiaich was born in County Armagh and was educated at Maynooth and University College, Dublin. He was ordained in 1948 and went to Louvain to further his studies. He was Professor of History at Maynooth and became deeply involved in the language revival. In 1977 he was consecrated Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, and in 1979 he was created cardinal. In 1980 he received the Irish American Cultural Institute Award for translating the Bible into Irish. Among his publications are Gaelscrinte i gCein; Ma Nuad; Oliver Plunkett: Ireland's New Saint; Art Mac Cumhaigh; Danta and Saint Oliver of Armagh.He had a unique distinction in the Catholic Church in Ireland: only his home parish, Lower Creggan, has produced two Cardinals, the other being Cardinal John Murphy Farley, Archbishop of New York in the early twentieth century.